


Marks

by TransformersG1fan271



Series: Uncharted Soulmate AU [1]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: I like the idea Rafe can be reformed, I like to imagine their soul marks are just a combination of those they love the most, M/M, Multi, Rafe Adler Lives, Sam and Nathan are not together, Soulmate AU, and nathan and sam are just brotherly, diverges from U4 a little, this does not involve incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:41:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TransformersG1fan271/pseuds/TransformersG1fan271
Summary: Rafe Adler wonders why the Drake's ended up as his soulmates.
Relationships: Rafe Adler/Nathan Drake, Rafe Adler/Samuel Drake
Series: Uncharted Soulmate AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748848
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28





	Marks

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try something out with these three in a happier AU.  
> Also just stressing there is no incest, they just both happen to be the ones to take care of our poor disaster boy.

Soulmate marks were a funny thing.

It’s four am, usually an hour when people are asleep in preparation for a new day. The hotel isn’t five stars, but it’s not exactly a hovel either, and it’s one that accepts bribes to smoke indoors. A pack of smokes sat on top of the large table nestled in one corner of the hotel room, three sets of jackets strewn about along with wallets and journals. One journal is being gone through, thin and perfectly manicured nails tapping along the spine of the book. The sketch currently being studied was one of two men, smiling as they watched some nondescript street from a bridge. One was tall and lanky, crooked nose from being repeatedly broken crinkled as he smiled, a set of four birds trailing up his neck. The man was gesturing out towards the street, a detailed mark trailing up his wrist and forearm. It was of crossed cutlasses, one of them a shining gold with rubies studded along the spine of the blade, truly a remarkable blade if it had been real. The other cutlass was bronze with a black hilt, almost nondescript to those who didn’t understand its’ meaning. The other man was smaller, curled slightly into the others side with a faintly amused look. His hair was slicked back and neat, save for a few strands that swayed in a breeze from hours previous. The smaller man was not staring at the street, no he was staring at the man who held him.

Smoke was exhaled, seafoam green eyes looking down. A leather journal was marked across his exposed chest, surrounded by multiple gold coins of a treasure they had found so long ago. He hadn’t been sure what to make of the marks all those years ago, but now they were a very part of his being.

Rafe Adler took another smoke, the late hour doing little to soothe his nerves.

_ “What has Rafe up so late?” _ A sleepy voice hummed before strong arms were wrapped around Adler. 

_ “Just thinking Nathan, as I’m prone to do.” _ Stubbing his half-finished cigarette, Rafe craned his neck up to kiss the adventurer’s cheek. It had been a strange history with the Drake brothers, and if Rafe was honest he still didn’t understand how they all came to be. 

At first, he had used the brothers’ eagerness to explore some old prison. Rafe had been a stubborn ass back then, so cold and indifferent as he stabbed the guard to death for  _ suggesting _ a cut to his treasure. Unfeeling as one brother fell to his supposed death, the other barely aware as he was dragged out and to freedom. The mark across his chest had changed, the journal closed and surrounded by a puddle of blood that just wouldn’t go away. For seven years Rafe threw himself into trying to find the next clue in Scotland, watching as the fabled El Dorado and the Lost City of Shambhala were found by Nathan. Something twisted inside his very soul when he saw his arms around some woman, seemingly very happy while Rafe toiled away for nothing. His mark felt like acid against his skin, never changing its shape no matter when he did to claw and tear at it.

The worst feelings came to Rafe whenever his father came to taunt. 

_ Why haven’t you made your mark by now? _

_ Your face does not grace the history books. _

_ You are allowing yourself to be kept beneath humanity. _

_ You are a failure until you prove that you are worth the life given to you. _

Some part of him deep, deep down wanted a normal life. Just to be one of the nameless crowd with a content job and his soulmates to welcome Rafe home after a long day. Those thoughts were always pushed down at the sight of a bloodstained journal marked across his chest.

One morning, the blood was gone, replaced by silver rings. Rafe couldn’t charter a plane to Panama fast enough, his heart seeming to beat out of sync as he approached the prison from years ago. The warden played coy, and for just over a week Rafe carefully played the wardens game before finally, his offer of money was taken. At sundown, Rafe waited by his car, toying with a lighter he had held for all those years. Doors opening, something in Rafe’s very soul seemed to just...settle at the sight of the elder Drake brother. He looked so aged, so tired with scars running in and out of sight, yet his eyes shone. Was it the freedom that made Sam hug Rafe, the fresh air that made him grin and ask jokingly what had taken so long? Rafe didn’t have the answer, merely pointing Sam to the car, giving the prison behind them a look as Sam stepped past. Whatever it was, something in his soul just felt at peace, or at least partially. 

Sam goes to find Nathan, and Rafe does nothing to stop him. No one who’s spent so many years in the heat would want the cold, and so he goes back to his work, to his cathedral that slowly dies under his touch. When he’s alone for the first time, Rafe all but tears open his shirt.

The journal is open, and the rings have taken on a shine, making Rafe smile at a sudden burst of joy.

Days turn to weeks, to months, and Rafe continues to work. At some point, mentions of Iram of the Pillars make their way to Rafe, but he is distracted by a finding in the graveyard. A nameless grunt is dead, but they have found some sort of puzzle and with instructions to be left alone, Rafe sets about to solve it. It’s some sort of strange puzzle with a bucket of all things, but after a day or so he thinks he’s solved it. Stepping forward and reaching in, Rafe is suddenly yanked back, leg getting grazed by a multitude of spikes that seemed to come from nowhere. A wide-eyed Samuel is holding him, a dazed Rafe just watching as he is pulled back to safer ground. 

Rafe sighs, reaching for another cigarette. A hand is placed over his instead, directing Rafe up and to his feet. In front of him stands Nathan, sweet Nathan, who has a look of concern despite still being exhausted. 

_ “I know that sigh...what’s wrong?” _

_ “Oh you know, just wondering what led me to the infamous Drake brothers.”  _ There’s a bitterness to his words, and Nathan’s leg gives a small twitch in response. 

_ “Is that all?” _ From the other room, there is a grumble, and Rafe swears. The past always riled him up, some beast lurking in the depths of his mind able to stir up the old Rafe. The one who left a soulmate, who let the other walk off and try to forget the small rich kid who only wanted treasure. The one who let others die in search of the treasure he thought he had needed.

The one who was really just a lonely and abused man forced to take on a life he didn’t think he had wanted.

Damn it all.

Of course, he doesn’t realize he’s shaking, not until a second pair of arms rest on his shoulders. He can smell the faint scent of smoke from some time ago, a soft kiss pressed against his neck.

_ “Breathe...we ain’t lettin’ anything hurt ya.” _ Rafe closes his eyes, breathing deep and slow as he’s held. The beast is pushed down again and takes with it the doubt and insecurities for another time. They eventually move, Rafe being led to the bedroom as Sam tidies up the table. He watches as Rafe lays down, Nathan joining his side with a small smile, murmuring something as Rafe leans forward, pulling up Nathan’s pj’s slightly to reveal his mark. A climbing hook loops around his calf, the glowing green and gold rope entwining around an ornate pistol that had nearly ended the life of both Sam and Nathan.

He wasn’t proud, but Rafe had turned against the brothers during their trek to Avery’s long lost treasure. His father had whipped Rafe into a frenzy, stoking the fire of want and greed until he had shot at the brothers, sending them tumbling off a cliff. The gun eventually turns towards the late senior Adler, and Rafe flees with the Drake’s and to his new life. There are times he is so wracked with guilt that Rafe pulls away, but Nathan and Sam are there to catch him from falling.

Nathan is the one to hold him tonight, his beating heart a lullaby that sends him to sleep. Sam watches them from the opposite bed, sharing a look with his brother before turning in for the night.

They all sleep soundly, the dawn of a new day casting a content glow upon them.


End file.
